Bulgarian national costume

BULGARIAN NATIONAL COSTUMES were part and parcel of the people's life,both in everyday activities and on festive occasions,and in system of culture where the material and the spiritual penetrate and complement each other.In contrast to the remaining objects of the material life,the clothes present invariably in the life of people,from birth,when one is dressed with the first chemise,till death,when one is buried with new or wedding clothes.
The national costumes,together with language and song tradition,are very specific cultural phenomena which evolve during long historical development.This is why the national costumes have long been a determinant of Bulgarian folk culture which give visual idea of the ethnic specifity and ethnographic variety of the bulgarian people.
The costumes have been gathered from all the historical teritories ethnically populated by Bulgarians.Main types and variants are presented:with two aprons,with one apron,soukman(low-cut sleevless dress),and saya (long dress),these being women's costumes,while men's costumes are belodreshna (predominantly white clothes) and chernodreshna (predominantly black clothes).
These main types of Bulgarian national costumes,which carry a very distinctive ethnical style,had evolved during the time of mature feudalism.Later they were developed further on,irrespective of the historical misfortunes of the Bulgarians.
The traditional patrirchal way of home manufacture of clothes however changed gradually.In 18th and the 19th centures more and more clothing crafts became differentiated.Master tailors started to manufacture the outer and top clothes mainly of the men's costumes.
The traditional materials for clothing textiles were:flax,hemp,wool,silk and cotton,the later generaly accepted in home weaving during the second half of the 19th century.Leather had comparatively small application,used for the typical Bulgarian footwear called tsurvouli( a kind of sandals),and furs were used for kalpatsi(men's fur caps),on the whole typical of the men's costumes worn in the mountain areas.
The composition of the Bulgarian national costumes is a complex one.It depended on the specific labour conditions and way of living in the patrirchal Bulgarian village.
Distinctive criteria in this respect is the way of cut and wearing of the outer clothing for the women's costume ,and the shape and colour f the outer clothes for the men's costume.These criteria are diferentiated geographically and have been influenced by a specific historical development.
The main components of the two-apron women's costume are:shirt,two aprons(fastened at the the waist,one worn in the front,the other at the back) and belt.The shirt ,mainly of the burchanka type,is sewn with two yokes,front and back,which make it gathered at the neck and very much displayed under the outer clothes.
Exquisite and dense emboidery decorates large spaces of the sleeves,the front and the back parts of the shirt .It is worn with two above -waist "curtains" sewn of the home -made decorative fabric:the back one falls in folds and frills,while the front one is made of one or two pieces of cloth ,with horizontal or vertical embroidery.The back "curtain" exists in a number of variants(vulnenik,bruchnik,tukmenik,peshtemal,kurlyanka,zaveshka) which have specific distribution.The waist -band worn with this type of costume is a long one,wound several times around the waist.Originally,this old-time women's costume had been universally spread ,but later was preserved mainly in the Danubian Plain.
The soukman dress was the most widely spread women's costume.It civeres the territory of the mountain areas of the central Bulgarian lands,as well as some common Black Sea regions and seashore areas of South-Estern Thrace.The numerous regional ,and even local ,varietes of the soukman dress share however some common Bulgarian features:the type of textile,tunic-like cut and low neck.The soukman is most often a sleeveless dress,but in some places it is with short or long sleeves.Usually strips of the soukman fabric are attached to the sleeve openings,the so-called "tails" ,which have been interpreted as reduced decorative elements of former sleeves ,having lost their utilitarian function.The decoration of this type of costume is concentrated on the skirts,along the neck and the sleve ends.It consists of multi-colour embroidery ,decorative cloth and braid appliques,varied in size and style.The cut of soukman determines three main variants which have specific geographic distribution.In west Bulgaria the soukman is sewn with wedges cut on the slant which fall downward from the waist,hence its name kusoklinest.In central Bulgaria the soukman is of the visokoklinest type(with high weges)-with tapezium or rectangular wedges,positioned high in the shoulder curve.In the eastern regions (on the slopes of the eastern ranges of the Balkan Mountain and along the Danube shore) there are some rare specimens of two-piece soukman:sleeveless,with short jacket (chapak),to which denesely gathered at the waist skirt is attached.The waist-band is usually broad and as long to be would several times around the waist.The colour is black,but most often in the different shades of red.In some cases there is multi-colour strip decoration.The soukman dress is worn with short woven belt whose ends are buckled by means of belt buckle called pafti,a typical Bulgarian adornment,round or oval,cast or wrought,mainly with floral ornamentation,but sometimes with mother-of-pearl appliques of Jerusalemplates with iconographic scenes.
The apron is the most piscturesque decorative centre of the soukman dress.It is richly ornamented,in a variety of colors which beautifully stand out against the background of the large blackness of the dress,thus making the soukman costumes very artistic and original.
Ethnological studies on the origin of the soukman presuppose that it evolved as a doubling garment of the first principal clothing-the shirt.In the process of its development the garment became more and more varied as far as fabric,colour and decoration are concerned.
The saya dress has also the tunic-like shirt as a major component,but its overall appearance is characterized by the so-called "saya",that is a constantly worn outer garment,open in the front part,slightly wedged,with varied length of the skirts(knee or ankle length) and the sleeves(short or long).The textilesof the saya are different in material and colour.The one-color white,balck,blue and dark blue saya dresses are predominant,made of cotton or woolen fabric.One of the most widespread variants,along the middle course of River Maritsa,is made made of multi-color striped cloth with dominating red color.The decoration of the saya is concentrated on the neck and the ends of the sleeves.In this case the Bulgarian woman has expressed herself as an axquisite master of ornamental linear embroidery supplemented by multi-color braiding lace.She demonstrated especially rich creativity in the gold-thread applique decoracion,varied and yet unified in style,typical of the middle parts of west Bulgaria.
The other important component of this Bulgarian women's costume is the waist-band,black or red,made of woollen fabric.The apron is also woolen in most of the cases:red,striped and in some South-Western regions with multiple woven ornamentation.Later the apron decorated with gold thread became more popular,used however manly on festive occasions.
The saya dress is the most widely distributed in the most widely distributed in the southern and south-western districts of the Bulgarian ethnical territory.In the South-western regions the red shades of the textile dominate,as well as the dense embroidery,also in red,to protect against avil forces,as folk superstition proffesed.
The saya costume is characterized by a comparatively high stability of existence and as late as the middle of the 20th century gave way to urban clothes of European type.
The one-apron women's costume is typical of certain settlements in the Danubian Plane and the Rhodopes.It has a more simple composition:long tunic-like shirt and apron tied at the waist ,narrow and of one piece of cloth or broad and of two pieces of cloth,with simple stripe decoration,two-color or multi-color ,with streaks on the woof or with dark background and slightly outlined squares.Sometimes the background is framed by series of geometrical ornaments,and on the hem as well.Till the first quarter of the 20th century the one-apron costume had been worn mainly by Bulgarian Moslems from the western and eastern parts of the Rhodopes,because it was practical and its composition was in accord with the occupation of the women population.At the same time there was a desire to increase the components of this costume.An open outer garment was also included(called anteriya,zaboun,kaftan) which was different in material ,shape,cut and function compared to the old-time prototypes.
Typical of the taste of the women from the Rhodopes is the the preference for light yellow and orange colors and the shades of grass green combined skilfully in the colors of the apron.
Bulgarian men's costumes are belodreshna (white) and chernodreshna (black) according to the color of the outer clothes.In actual fact these are not variants with specific geographic distribution but are two consequtive stages in the development of the men's costume.
It has been accepted that the oldest prototype is the costume consisting of long shirt,with skirts falling above the white woollen or cotton pants,tied at the waist by means of waist-band or belt.This men's costume is definitely conservative in style,but it was preserved for a long time because it suited the conditions of the main occupations:farming and cattle-breeding.
The men's belodreshna costume includes:tunic-like shirt,pants and outer clothes made of white fabric (thick homespun woolen clothe).The pants exists in two variants:benevretsi,long and narrow,with tightly fitting nogavitsi in the lower part of the legs ,and dimii,with broad and short legs.The outline of the belodreshna costume is determined by the outer garment (kusak,klashnik,dolaktenik,goliama dreha).It is with a wedgelike cut and of considerable length.Its specific stylistic feature are the linear embroidery motifs and color brainding lace on the hems of the neck and sleeves and on the tops of the wedges.The waist-band is an obligatory element,made of richly decorated ,predominantly red fabric,and is worn tightly wound around the waist.It has been proved that the belodreshna costume is of Slavic origin,spread throughout the bulgarian ethnical territory.Having been influenced by changes of society,it had been preserved at the latest in its ancient outlook in the North-Western Bulgaria till the first decades of the 20th century.
The apprearance of a second type of men's costume-chernodreshna-was part of the common for the whole country process of darkening of men's clothes ,particularly prominent in the period of Bulgarian Revival.it was the result of new social,economic and cultural conditions.From late 18th century till mid 19th century men's clothes were no longer made of white aba(a kind of woollen cloth).Instead ,they were sewn of black shayak (woolen textile) with different cut of the pants and the outer garments.The pants,called potouri ,are broad, with numerous black braiding decoration.It is curious to note what people used to belive:the more folded and pleated the potouri were,and their bottom in particular,the more well-to-do their owner was.
The outer clothes(elek,aba,anteriya) are with straight cut and of waist length.The waist-band ,of woolen cloth ,in red color and of remarkable width,is tightly wound around the waist.The remaining components-belt,typical fur cap and tsurvouli-are part of the belodreshna costume as well.
Men's costumes from west Bulgaria testify to the common origin of the two types because they present a mixed composition of white benevretsi (pants) worn with dark blue outer clothes.The spread of homespun tailoring contributed to the introducion of the chernodreshna costume,but eversince late 19th century there was a tendency which outmoded the chernodreshna costume as well.It started from the settlements by European fashion.
The territorial distribution of the main types of national costumes does not have strictly outlinedboundaries.The multiplicity of national costumesis a result of different geographical,historical,social,economic,cultural and religious conditions.Each of the main types of costumes has a number of variants and subvariants which appreared from the interaction between the costumes of different districts,or between the costumes of the separate ethnographic groups.They must have been influenced also from without,as well as by the individual taste and preference for certain details.
A number of national Bulgarian costumes have retained features and elements of older time.Usually they symbolize age,marital status,participation in rites and rituals.The decoration of the costume is most expressive in the this respect:contents,composition and color of the textile ornaments.The way of dressing the clothes,as well as the accessories,are,are also distinctive features.For example,the hair of unmarried girls is shown,while the hair of married women is concealed.The white outer garment is compolsory for young married women,while the unmarried girls cannot wear it.
The artistic design of Bulgarian costumes is one of the most valuable and intransient national achievements,a testimony to the versatile spiritual life,high artistic potential and insatiable craving for beauty of the Bulgarian people.The decoration of garments,exclusively a product of the Bulgarian woman,bears the mark of family and clan traditions,of morality and outlook.It is the decoration which carries the ethnical specificity and functions as a social regulator.
Unthinkable artistic quality of the costume have been obtained through skillful ornamental decoration expressed in the type of the fabric,embroidery,knitwear,appliques and lace.
The textile decoration is integrally connected both with the different parts of the garment and the overall composition of the costume.Most often it is situated on the open parts of the costume:neck,sleeve and skirt hems,waist-bands,belts,wedges,aprons,kerchiefs,socks.
Children's folk costumes are an interest part of national clothes.You can see some examples in page for products.